With an aim to better manage the rush of applicants seeking various certificates from the government, the district collector of Bhavnagar has doubled the business hours of civic centre at his office and have also installed a digital screen to display token number and a loudspeaker system so that people don’t have to stand in queue for long hours. The district administration installed a digital display screen and a loudspeaker at the civic centre on Sunday and collector Banchhanidhi Pani said the new system will start functioning from Monday onward.

“There has been heavy rush of applicants for certificates like EBC, non-creamy layer, income etc recently. Last month, we got 37,000 applications for such certificates and people had to stand in queues for long hours. To save people from such inconvenience, we have installed the screen to display token numbers. This will help people know as to when their turn is likely to come and will not have to stand in queues,” Pani said.

He added that enough sitting arrangement and provision of drinking water were made at the civic centre for convenience of the public. Peons will give token to applicants as they reach the civic centre and they will be directed to approach a window after their token number is displayed on the screen. In all, there are 10 windows at the civic centre. “Due to rush and noise, it was proving difficult for an applicant and an executive of the civic centre to communicate. The loudspeaker will solve this problem,” he said.